# Cheap generic for Prozac, a registered trade mark
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 18, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851 "2002-03-18T07:56:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/1 "2002-03-18T07:56:10Z")
It may comfort some here to know that Prozac, a brand name perscription drug costing upwards of $2.50 a day for use now has a generic substitute going for about $0.25 a day. I have been on the generic for several months now and I find it just as effective. š ā¹
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/2 "2002-03-18T08:49:09Z")
Some people will be happy to hear the news, but Eli Lillyās shareholders may need to be medicated.
I donāt see a question here, so Iāll move this thread to MPSIMS.
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### Author:  [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/3 "2002-03-18T12:43:14Z")
It would be swell to know what this magical cheap generic isā¦Iāve been on generic Prozac (fluoxetine) since last August, and the least expensive generic Iāve found is still over $2/pill for 20 mg. Got any other information?
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### Author:  [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/4 "2002-03-18T14:37:19Z")
Any more information?
Yes, try again. When the formula for Prozac first ran out of patent rights, the only other generic available was still quite expensive. Now, however there are MUCH cheaper ones available.
They consist of the same formula as the non-generic brand of course, which is why they work exactly the same. Oddly, my pills now have the consistency and appearance of aspirin, rather than being little green and white caplets.
My prescription now costs approximately half of what it used to. Check it out.
L
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/5 "2002-03-18T15:27:13Z")
Funny, I thought fluoxetine _was_ generic Prozac. Iām all confused now. I guess it donāt matter too much because **Valkyrie** ās insurance has a $10 co-pay on the meds, so itās cheap for me no matter how you slice it.
I only been on it for a month - 20 mg - but god _damn_, I wish Iād gotten on this stuff sooner.
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### Author:  [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/6 "2002-03-18T15:32:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Olentzero \*
> \*\*I only been on it for a month - 20 mg - but god _damn_, I wish Iād gotten on this stuff sooner. \*\*
Yeah, sometimes I think they should put it in the water!
Seriously, thereās a lot of information about how anti-depressants are overprescribed, and Iām sure there are. But itās the most amazing thing to me that I can be essentially non-functional (unable to work, etc.) and Prozac turns that around for me like magic. Amazing stuff, huh?
L
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/7 "2002-03-18T15:37:48Z")
Yeah, **SexyWriter** , I was kinda reticent about it myself, knowing what little I did about how everybody thought it was overprescribed. But this was my choice, based on things about myself Iād known for a while. That, to me, is the key - being active in the process, rather than just passively accepting whatever the doctor thinks you ought to have.
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### Author:  [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/8 "2002-03-18T16:40:43Z")
Just to add a little background information, the generic is now available as a result of a big patent litigation between Barr Labs and Eli Lily. Lily argued that it had patent protection until December 2003. They lost at trial and on appeal and the Supreme Court decided not to hear Lilyās appeal.
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### Author:  [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/9 "2002-03-18T17:30:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Olentzero \*
> **Funny, I thought fluoxetine _was_ generic Prozac.**
Fluoxetine is the drugās chemical name, Prozac the brand name. The process for making the chemical was patented under Lilly until last August.
Now that the chemical is no longer patent protected, generic companies can make it, but theyāll have to give it a different brand name, or just sell it as no-name fluoxetine.
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/10 "2002-03-18T18:15:45Z")
Always with the making sense. This is MPSIMS, dammit! Take the real answers to GQ. š
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### Author:  [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/11 "2002-03-18T18:41:42Z")
Iām still interested in where the OP is finding fluoxetine for 25 cents a day. Iāve called AND looked online, and the least expensive non-bulk proce I can find is STILL just over $2.00/day, unless I jump through about 80,000 hoops to get it from another country.
I dislike the implication that I havenāt looked around since August for less expensive medication. I donāt have medical insurance and we live paycheck to paycheck, so itās not like I donāt have a vested interest in finding a less expensive way to keep myself medicated.
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### Author:  [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/12 "2002-03-18T18:49:16Z")
Sorry, my bad.
Um, lesseeā¦, you said āfunny, I thought fluoxetine was generic Prozac,ā so Iāll respondā¦
Ok, howās this:
Tony Prozac was born āAnthony Fluoxetine,ā but his agent felt that he needed something more āupbeatā if he wanted to hit the big time. After the name change, Prozac landed starmaking roles in the critically acclaimed _It costs **how** much?_ and _Iām Having Trouble Waking Up in the Morning, Doc_.
No wait, that seems more like Cafe Society, doesnāt it? Gimme a few, Iāll work on itā¦
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### Author:  [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/13 "2002-03-18T18:57:32Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \*
> **Iām still interested in where the OP is finding fluoxetine for 25 cents a day.**
Actually, Iād like to know too. I canāt get it for .25 per day.
I can, however, get it for about $1/day, which is a huge price break from the previous $80/month. I simply pick it up at my local pharmacyā¦no ordering from overseas or other tricks necessary. All I did was ask for the generic when they filled my script. I suppose if youāve called the local pharmacies and they donāt carry the generic, the next step is to try demanding that the START carrying it.
L
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### Author:  [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/14 "2002-03-18T19:02:03Z")
Another thing you might want to try is asking for āSerafem,ā which is marketed as a drug for PMS. Essentially, itās Prozac as a pink tablet.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-generic-for-prozac-a-registered-trade-mark/98851/15 "2002-03-19T00:04:12Z")
Hell, Iāve never even _seen_ Eli Lillyās product, but Iām a big fan of Gen-fluoxetine, manufactured by Genpharm of Toronto.
**DPWhite** , you pay $0.25 a day?
Get your butt up here to the Great White North, where the dynamic duo of our Socialized Healthcare and traditional disregard for the patent-rights of foreign pharmaceutical companies has me payingā¦ uh, letās seeā¦ \- - carry the zeroā¦ ummmā¦ Oh, right: Absolutely _nothing_ for Fluoxetine hydrochloride. That alone makes me feel better. Of course, our āLiberalā government is decimating our health-care system, along with just about everything else this country has going for it, so the party may soon be over. But Iām not depressed about it. Just really, really angry. As it should be.